The accumulation of ice on critical flight surfaces of aircraft presents a substantial safety risk. Even a small amount of ice accumulation on some critical surfaces, such as the leading edges of aircraft wings and other airfoil surfaces, can significantly affect the surfaces' lift and drag characteristics. Therefore, the real-time detection of aircraft icing is an important factor for flight safety. However, some existing systems and methods of real-time ice detection are susceptible to false negative readings. In such cases, an ice detection system can incorrectly indicate that there is no ice accumulation on the aircraft even though ice accumulation on one or more critical flight surfaces has in fact occurred. False negative readings can be particularly common when flying an aircraft at a temperature near the freezing point of water, such as about 27-32° F., and an altitude of about 1500-13,000 feet. Under such conditions, ice can form on the leading edge of an aircraft's wing or another critical flight surface prior to ice formation on an ice detector disposed in a typical location on the aircraft, such as on the forward fuselage section of the aircraft.
Therefore, there exists a need for methods and apparatus for detecting icing conditions and/or ice formation on an aircraft in a more reliable manner and/or under a wider array of atmospheric conditions.